


Song for a Dead Man

by yami (blind_man_sun)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor Adventures - Various Authors
Genre: Cemetery, Gen, Music, Sad, Told From a Cat's Perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 11:52:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3326381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blind_man_sun/pseuds/yami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As told by a cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Song for a Dead Man

The night was cold, but that didn’t bother the cat. It was used to the chill, damp weather, and besides, its fur was thick and warm. The cat was sitting on the low stone wall, idly watching the mice scurry through the grass between the graves. The cat was not hungry, but it might be fun to catch a mouse and play with it. 

This train of thought was interrupted by a low clattering noise. The cat flicked its ears, pinpointed the direction of the sound. It got to its feet and padded down the wall, curious. The noise in question was coming from the cemetery gate, being shook as it was by a human boy. The cat meowed friendlily, and the boy looked up sharply, startled. He was awkward-looking, too tall and too thin, with messy hair. The cat wrinkled its nose; if this boy were its, he would have never gotten to such an un-presentable state. 

“Hullo,” the boy said quietly, reaching out to scratch the cat behind it ears, which it appreciated greatly. “You scared me. Thought you were a copper.” The cat meowed again, sitting down on the wall and wrapping its tail around its paws. The boy moved up to the wall, removing the large black case from his back and slipping it over, gently lowering it by the strap to the grass inside the cemetery. He followed after it without much grace, and the cat jumped away, amused.

The boy dropped to the ground heavily, muttering words the cat was almost certain he shouldn’t be saying at his age under his breath. He picked up the case and crept into the cemetery, glancing around furtively. The cat followed after him, curious and slightly hoping for another ear scratch. The boy stopped at a grave on the outskirts of the cemetery and sat down beside it. The cat stopped too and circled around the tombstone before hopping on the case and meowing again.

“Hey, move it.” The boy picked the cat up gently, placing it back on the ground. The cat meowed indignantly and jumped up on the tombstone, looking down at the boy as he opened the case and took out a strange object. The cat had never seen anything like it before, and when the boy moved his hands over it, making sounds appear, it pricked its ears forward in interest. 

“Hi,” the boy said softly, almost whispering. The cat knew he wasn’t talking to it and flicked its tail, vaguely affronted that something else be given attention over it. “You remember last time, I told you I was learning how to play the guitar? Well, I wrote a song. Um. It’s my first one, so it’s probably not very good, but…I wrote it for you. I-I just wanted you to hear it.”

He made the object create noise again, this time singing along with it. The cat blinked, ears flickering on the several occasions the sound went pitchy, hurting its head. There was a nice quality to it overall, and the cat found itself enjoying the music. It meowed again when the boy stopped, almost in protest. The boy looked up at it and grinned. “Well, at least someone liked it.” The smile fell almost as soon as it came and the boy looked back down. “We still miss you, you know. Just in case you were worried about us forgetting you. Yeah.” 

The boy stood up suddenly, putting the music-making object back in its case and closing it. “I gotta go. Mum’ll kill me if she finds out I snuck in here.” He slung the case on his back again and leaned over to pet the cat, which purred and arched up into the boy’s hand. “Bye, cat. Bye, Dad.” He turned around and slunk away, disappearing into the gloom.

The cat watched him go, still sitting on the tombstone and idly flicking its tail. It wondered if catching a mouse might still be fun.


End file.
